What is the importance of this sentence? Thai smiles mean more—and less — than the western smile. It is a mask, or more accurately, many masks. The Thai smile can signify happiness but also anger, doubt, anxiety, and even grief.

Answer with Explanation:

The sentence implies that Thai's smile is meaningful than how they actually appear when compared to western smiles. Being known as "The Land of Smiles," Thailand is home to people who use smile to express different emotions such as happiness, admiration, wicked intention, sadness and so on.

This shows that the smile of Thai people may be misunderstood by other nationalities and so it is being linked to a "mask." It may mean "more" in a sense that a person feels something more than what you actually see from his smile or it may also mean "less" in a sense that the person may look very happy but is actually not happy.

If you happen to see a Thai person, you won't be surprise that they happen to smile in every situation. This is, partly, their way of interacting.

So, this explains the answer.

the bazaar because it represents the inaccessible land of freedom to the narrator. mangan’s sister because she represents domesticity and routine to the narrator. the marketplace because it represents the suburban lifestyle to the narrator. the church because it represents spiritual healing and renewal to the narrator.